V. I. Lenin

Meeting of the Central Committee
      of the R.S.D.L.P.(B.)
      October 10 (23), 1917[1]

Written:October, 1917First Published:Proletarskaya
      RevolutsiaNo. 10, 1922; Published according to the
      hand-written copy of the MinutesSource:Lenin’sCollected
      Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 26, 1972,
      pp. 188-190Translated:Yuri Sdobnikov and George
      Hanna, Edited by George HannaTranscription & HTML Markup:Charles
      Farrell and David WaltersOnline Version:Lenin Internet ArchiveNovember,
      2000

Report 
      Minutes

Comrade Lenin maintains that a sort of indifference to the
      question of insurrection has been noticeable since the beginning
      of September. But this is impermissible if we are issuing the
      slogan of the seizure of power by the Soviets in all
      seriousness. It is therefore high time to pay attention to the
      technical aspect of the question. Apparently a lot of time has
      already been lost.

Nevertheless the question is an urgent one, and the decisive
      moment is near.

The international situation is such that we must take the
      initiative.

What is being done to surrender territory as far as Narva, and
      to surrender Petrograd makes it still more imperative for us to
      take decisive action.

The political situation is also working impressively in this
      direction. Decisive action on our part on July 3, 4 and 5 would
      have failed because we did not have the majority behind
      us. Since then we have made tremendous progress.

Absenteeism and indifference on the part of the masses is due to
      their being tired of words and resolutions.

We now have the majority behind us. Politically, the situation
      is fully ripe for taking power.

The agrarian movement is also developing in that direction, for
      it is obvious that extreme effort would be needed to stem that
      movement. The slogan of the transfer of all land has become the
      general slogan of the peasants. The political situation,
      therefore, is mature. We must speak of the technical
      aspect. That is the crux of the matter. Nevertheless we, like
      the defencists, are inclined to regard the systematic
      preparation of an uprising as something in the nature of a
      political sin.

It is senseless to wait for the Constituent Assembly that will
      obviously not be on our side, for this will only make our task
      more involved.

The regional congress and the proposal from Minsk[2]must be used
      for the beginning of decisive action.

The Central Committee recognises that the international position
      of the Russian revolution (the revolt in the German navy which
      is an extreme manifestation of the growth throughout Europe of
      the world socialist revolution; the threat of peace by the
      imperialists with the object of strangling the revolution in
      Russia) as well as the military situation (the indubitable
      decision of the Russian bourgeoisie and Kerensky and Co. to
      surrender Petrograd to the Germans), and the fact that the
      proletarian party has gained a majority in the Soviets—all
      this, taken in conjunction with the peasant revolt and the swing
      of popular confidence towards our Party (the elections in
      Moscow), and, finally, the obvious preparations being made for a
      second Kornilov revolt (the withdrawal of troops from Petrograd,
      the dispatch of Cossacks to Petrograd, the encircling of Minsk
      by Cossacks, etc.)—all this places the armed uprising on
      the order of the day.

Considering therefore that an armed uprising is inevitable, and
      that the time for it is fully ripe, the Central Committee
      instructs all Party organisations to be guided accordingly, and
      to discuss and decide all practical questions (the Congress of
      Soviets of the Northern Region, the withdrawal of troops from
      Petrograd, the action of our people in Moscow and Minsk, etc.)
      from this point of view.

[1]The
      Meeting of the Central Committee of the R.S.D.L.P. on October 10
      (23),1917, was the first one Lenin attended after
      his return to Petrograd from Vyborg. Sverdlov was in the
      chair. Lenin gave a report on the current situation. The Central
      Committee adopted the resolution motioned by Lenin who proposed
      immediate preparations for an armed uprising. Only Zinoviev and
      Kamenev voted against the proposal. Trotsky abstained, but he
      held that it had to be postponed until the Second Congress of
      Soviets, which in practice meant bungling the insurrection and
      allowing the Provisional Government to pull up its forces to
      crush the uprising on the day the Congress opened. The Central
      Committee rebuffed the capitulants. The October 10 meeting of
      the Central Committee is of tremendous historical
      importance. The resolution on the uprising adopted by 10 to 2
      became the Bolshevik Party's directive in starting immediate
      preparations for an insurrection. To direct the insurrection,
      the Central Committee set up a Political Bureau headed by
      Lenin.

[2]The
      reference is to Sverdlov's report to the Central Committee on
      October 10 (23),1917, on the third item of the agenda: "Minsk
      and the Northern Front". He said that there was a technical
      possibility of staging an armed uprising in Minsk, and that
      Minsk had offered to send a revolutionary corps to help
      Petrograd.